Tories 'incapable of tackling tax dodging'

“There is a thirst to tackle global tax avoidance scams that suck revenue out of our public services.”

He calls on the Conservatives to back a full public inquiry into the international tax system.

15:54

Corbyn blasts PM's statement as a "distraction"

Jeremy Corbyn says the PM’s statement was a “masterclass in the art of distraction”.

And he poses a serious of damning questions to the Prime Minister.

- Why did he not register his shares in his dad’s offshore holding on the MPs’ register of interests?

- When in 2010 did he sell the shares?

- Why did the government try to oppose a tax evasion crackdown at EU level?

“Will the PM now stop blocking EU Commission plans for a blacklist of tax havens?” he adds.

He says more than 100,000 firms were associated with Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca - something he describes as a “scandal”

15:50KEY EVENT

Tax havens to be opened up with 3 new rules

The PM announces three radical sounding rules to open up tax havens.

1. UK law enforcement will be able to find out the beneficiaries of firms in all tax havens except Anguila and Guernsey, which haven’t yet agreed to a deal. “Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Isle of Man, Jersey, the lot!” he says.

2. There will be a new criminal offence “for corporations who fail to protect their representatives from criminally facilitating tax evasion”. There’s not much detail on this yet.

3. There will be a task force to crack down on tax evasion.

15:46

PM says he sold £72k shares to avoid 'conflicts of interest'

The PM moves on to the £103,000 total in shares (including in his dad’s holdings) that he sold upon becoming Prime Minister.

“I sold all my shares that year because I did not want any issues around conflicts of interests,” he says.

That does not account for the time he spent as Leader of the Opposition, though.

He says he’s followed the rules on declaring the rules in full - even though he didn’t declare his dad’s fund in the MPs’ register.

He’s been referred to the standards watchdog by Labour, he admits.

“I’ve already given her the relevant information and if there’s more she believes I should say more I am happy to,” he says.

He admits full responsibility for taking nearly a week to admit his role.

But he says: “I was angry about the way my father’s memory was being traduced. I know he was a hard working man and a wonderful dad and he did everything he could to provide for his family.”

Many parents want to help their children when they buy their first car and get a deposit on their first home, he adds.

15:42KEY EVENT

Furious PM fights back over "deeply hurtful" slurs

The PM moves on to Blairmore Holdings, set up in the Bahamas by his dad Ian. It did not pay UK tax for 30 years, and the PM had £30,000 of shares in it.

But he says: “There have been some deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue allegations made against my father.

“Allow me to put the record straight.

“This investment fund was set off overseas in the first place because it was going to be trading predominantly in dollar securities.”

He says local government, large companies and trade unions use offshore funds, as do the BBC, Mirror Group, Guardian, and Jeremy Corbyn’s local council Islington.

“This is not to criticise what they do. It is to make the point that this is an entirely standard practice and it is not to avoid tax,” he says.

15:39KEY EVENT

PM rules out forcing MPs to publish tax returns

“The publication of a Prime Minister’s tax information in this way is unprecedented but I think it’s the right thing to do”, Cameron begins.

“I think there’s a strong case for the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition and Chancellor and Shadow Chancellor”.

This is because they are, or want to be, responsible for the nation’s finances, he says.

But he adds: “We should think carefully before abandoning completely all taxpayer confidentiality in this house.”

He claims there’s a slippery slope which could lead to journalists also having to publish their tax affairs.

15:34KEY EVENT

George Osborne releases his tax return

George Osborne has released his tax summary for 2014/15.

It shows he earned £198,738 of taxable income last year.

That included an eye-watering £44,647 in dividends from shares from his family’s wallpaper empire Osborne and Little.

This is all the more remarkable because an investigation showed the firm had declared it was making a loss - meaning it did not pay any corporation tax for several years.

David Cameron earned just £700 when he had shares, and he had £72,000 worth of them.

The Chancellor and his wife also earned £66,000 in rent from his London home while they live in Downing Street.

And the return shows the Chancellor is a top rate taxpayer - so benefits by about £2,500 a year by lowering the rate from 50p to 45p.

We will have more on this soon but the Prime Minister’s statement is about to start.